Man Survives Niagra Falls Jump...First Adult to Survive
Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2003 3:41 pm
Man faces charges after surviving Niagara Falls jump
MONTREAL (AFP) - An American man faced charges after becoming the first adult to survive a plunge over Niagara Falls without using safety equipment, astounding witnesses to the feat.
The man, who has not been named, floated by tourists standing at the top of Niagara, in Canadian territory, before going over the 52.4-metre-high (173-foot-high) falls.
He was reported to have swam to a rock at the bottom of the gorge, on the US side of the border, where he was found by emergency crews.
The man was led away with a white towel over his head and was admitted to Greater Niagara General Hospital. Reports said he suffered no serious injuries.
Police would not say whether it was a stunt or a suicide attempt.
"The man, a US resident, came out alive. He was found and recovers in hospital. He is under psychiatric evaluation," said Inspector Paul Forcier of the Niagara Parks Police Service.
A police spokesman told AFP: "There is an investigation ongoing, and a decision on whether any charges will be pressed will be taken later.
"We have a number of independent witnesses to what happened," the spokesman added.
WIVB television in Buffalo said police were also questioning a friend of the man who filmed the fall with a video camera.
Witnesses told local media of their amazement as they watched the man, who appeared to be in his 20s, head over the horseshoe-shaped falls near Table Rock just after midday on Monday.
"We thought we were witnessing a man's death," said Terry McMullen, a car parts salesman from Ohio, who watched with his wife, Brenda.
"He glided right by us on his back with his arms in the air as though he was taking a leisurely swim. He went over the falls without a sound," McMullen told the Buffalo News daily.
If the incident proves to be a daredevil feat, the man could face a 10,000-dollar fine for violating a Niagara Parks Commission law forbidding stunts in the park. Police say would-be daredevils are a danger to themselves and those who have to climb into the gorge to rescue them.
If the witness accounts are confirmed, the man will be the first adult to survive a Niagara fall without safety protection of any kind.
In 1960, a seven-year-old boy, Roger Woodward, fell out of a boat and over the falls, and survived, but he was wearing a life jacket.
In 1901, 63-year-old schoolteacher Annie Edson Taylor was the first of 13 people who have taken the plunge in a container of some kind. Taylor used a wooden barrel. Three people have died attempting the feat in a container.
Wesley Hill, who has helped organise stunts at Niagara Falls, told the Buffalo News it was possible to survive the plunge.
He sent a number of barrels over the falls when he worked as a consultant to the Ride Niagara tourist attraction that simulates a fall in a barrel.
Hill believes that although there are rocks at the bottom, someone could hit a water cushion over the rocks that would push him or her away to safety.
MONTREAL (AFP) - An American man faced charges after becoming the first adult to survive a plunge over Niagara Falls without using safety equipment, astounding witnesses to the feat.
The man, who has not been named, floated by tourists standing at the top of Niagara, in Canadian territory, before going over the 52.4-metre-high (173-foot-high) falls.
He was reported to have swam to a rock at the bottom of the gorge, on the US side of the border, where he was found by emergency crews.
The man was led away with a white towel over his head and was admitted to Greater Niagara General Hospital. Reports said he suffered no serious injuries.
Police would not say whether it was a stunt or a suicide attempt.
"The man, a US resident, came out alive. He was found and recovers in hospital. He is under psychiatric evaluation," said Inspector Paul Forcier of the Niagara Parks Police Service.
A police spokesman told AFP: "There is an investigation ongoing, and a decision on whether any charges will be pressed will be taken later.
"We have a number of independent witnesses to what happened," the spokesman added.
WIVB television in Buffalo said police were also questioning a friend of the man who filmed the fall with a video camera.
Witnesses told local media of their amazement as they watched the man, who appeared to be in his 20s, head over the horseshoe-shaped falls near Table Rock just after midday on Monday.
"We thought we were witnessing a man's death," said Terry McMullen, a car parts salesman from Ohio, who watched with his wife, Brenda.
"He glided right by us on his back with his arms in the air as though he was taking a leisurely swim. He went over the falls without a sound," McMullen told the Buffalo News daily.
If the incident proves to be a daredevil feat, the man could face a 10,000-dollar fine for violating a Niagara Parks Commission law forbidding stunts in the park. Police say would-be daredevils are a danger to themselves and those who have to climb into the gorge to rescue them.
If the witness accounts are confirmed, the man will be the first adult to survive a Niagara fall without safety protection of any kind.
In 1960, a seven-year-old boy, Roger Woodward, fell out of a boat and over the falls, and survived, but he was wearing a life jacket.
In 1901, 63-year-old schoolteacher Annie Edson Taylor was the first of 13 people who have taken the plunge in a container of some kind. Taylor used a wooden barrel. Three people have died attempting the feat in a container.
Wesley Hill, who has helped organise stunts at Niagara Falls, told the Buffalo News it was possible to survive the plunge.
He sent a number of barrels over the falls when he worked as a consultant to the Ride Niagara tourist attraction that simulates a fall in a barrel.
Hill believes that although there are rocks at the bottom, someone could hit a water cushion over the rocks that would push him or her away to safety.
